Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Charlotte Brockman, Adrian Cox, Aaron Lee M. Daigh, Iker González-Allende, George Graef, Sydney Honaker, Keegan Huffman, Dylan Insalaco, Katrina Jagodinsky, John Kosch, Elsbeth Magilton, Brett Neely, Anna Newcome, S. Sajeesh, Kalie Saunders, Camden Smith, Jaden Smith, Allison Walbrecht and the Soil Judging Team.
Honors
Aaron Lee M. Daigh, associate professor of in agronomy and horticulture, has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas. A vadose zone hydrologist and soil physicist, Daigh directs research on vadose zone water quality and the fate and transport of nutrients and chemicals in agricultural landscapes overlying major aquifers. His research and classroom instruction have covered topics such as the transfer of energy and matter in soils and the vadose zone, sources of spatial and temporal variability, soil and water contamination and management and agronomy.
George Graef has been named the recipient of the 2025 Larry Tonniges Research Achievement Award by the Nebraska Soybean Board. Graef, a professor and the Presidential Chair of Soybean Breeding in the Agronomy and Horticulture Department, has been a driving force in soybean research, dedicating his career to improving soybean genetics and enhancing the crop’s value for Nebraska farmers.
Four third-year students at the University of Nebraska College of Law — Jadon Smith, Kalie Saunders, Keegan Huffman and Dylan Insalaco — have been selected for commission into the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps following graduation. The selection process is highly competitive, and the College of Law is proud to see multiple students entering this esteemed branch of military legal service.
Petitioning for Freedom earned the 2024 Digital Humanities Award for Best New Dataset or DH Model. The first-of-its-kind project invites users to explore how marginalized communities navigated the courts to seek justice. Katrina Jagodinsky, Susan Rosowski associate professor of history, is principal investigator.
John Kosch, a third year doctoral student in the Glenn Korff School of Music, has received a DownBeat Student Music Award in the category of Original Composition Large Ensemble Graduate College Winners for his composition, “Syncing. . . .” The 48th annual DownBeat Student Music Awards, presented by DownBeat magazine, are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education.
Elsbeth Magilton, professor and director of externships in the College of Law, is a co-recipient of the 2025 Emerging Leader Award from the Association of American Law Schools Externship Section. The award is given to individuals new (less than five years) to the externship community who have demonstrated leadership through initiatives to further their externship program or the externship community, publication of externship-related articles or other similar activities.
Brett Neely, assistant professor of management, and his research team received an award from the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology Foundation to support research on job search assistance for formerly incarcerated individuals. The team was recognized at the annual SIOP meeting in Denver.
Camden Smith, a junior music performance (saxophone) major, was named the winner of the 2025 Nebraska Jazz Orchestra Young Artist competition. He will be a featured soloist at the June 10 Nebraska Jazz Orchestra concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel. The program includes “Quintessence” by Quincy Jones, “Delta City Blues" by Michael Brecker and arranged by Dave Eshelman and “Body and Soul” by Johnny Green. Smith has played with UNL’s Jazz Orchestra, Westbrook Saxophone Quartet, Jazz Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble, along with jazz combos at Nebraska.
The Soil Judging Team won first place in the Nacta Soils Judging Contest, besting about 80 students from 14 other four-year colleges and universities across the United States. Anna Newcome, a junior plant biology and environmental science major, placed first individually, and Charlotte Brockman, a senior agronomy major, placed third individually. Sydney Honaker, a sophomore environmental science and fisheries and wildlife major, and Adrian Cox, a junior integrated science major, placed in the top 10 individually. Learn more.
Allison Walbrecht, a junior animal science major, was selected as the 2025 delegate for the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching meetings in Washington, D.C. The event provided an up-close look at how national agricultural priorities are shaped and how students can play a meaningful role in advancing public support for land-grant institutions. CARET, an organization of volunteer advocates coordinated by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, works to communicate the value of public investment in agricultural research, extension and teaching.
Appointments
Iker González-Allende, a professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, has been named associate editor of Revista de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades/Journal of Gender and Sexuality Studies, the journal of the Asociación de Estudios de Género y Sexualidades, published by Michigan State University Press.
S. Sajeesh, Nathan J. Gold Distinguished Professor of Marketing and associate professor of marketing, was appointed associate editor at the Journal of Retailing.
This column is a regular feature of Nebraska Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
